FPSRussia is a popular YouTube channel consisting of videos involving firearms and explosives. The videos feature Kyle Myers, an American born in Lavonia, Georgia, USA, playing the role of Dmitri Potapoff, a heavily accented Russian. Each video on the channel generally has Myers explaining the characteristics of the weapons he will use in that video (occasionally giving history about it and sometimes explanations of its purpose), before he demonstrates their abilities on targets such as fruits, drink bottles, zombie targets and photos of Justin Bieber in his earlier videos.[1][2] The FPSRussia channel reached the 1 million subscriber mark in June 2011.[3] Myers has used largely varying pieces of equipment along with weapons that have been featured in his videos such as a golden AK-47, an armored troop carrier,[4][5] a .50BMG rifle, and shotguns.

After an announcement video in December 2012 and a successful Kickstarter campaign, FPSRussia released "FPS Russia: The Game" on the App Store for iOS devices in March 2013 with developer Zaah.[6]

Before Myers started FPSRussia, he ran a channel named "klm5986". He also had a YouTube channel called "FPSKyleletsplays" under the name FPSKyle. His YouTube channel often featured videos from other YouTube personalities, such as xSocrates. He later wanted to show how guns worked in real life and to compare them to how they are portrayed in video games, films and television shows.[7] He got the idea for a Russian accent while working at a car dealership. One of his co-workers was Russian and he took interest in impersonating his accent. His uncle was also a prankster and used to use the accent while talking to Kyle while he was five years of age. He used the accent to create the character Dimitri and what followed was him filming himself shooting guns on his family farm in Georgia. But ultimately, the idea for FPSRussia originated from a prank on his co-founded podcast, Painkiller Already. Myers also runs a third channel known as FPSRussiaTV.[8] After a nine-month hiatus, on January 10, 2014, FPSRussia returned to YouTube.[9]

Due to the success of FPSRussia, Myers opened up a second channel, MoreFPSRussia. Myers collaborated with Epic Meal Time in July 2011.[10] The collaboration has earned over 7.5 million video views on YouTube as of April 14, 2014.

Myers co-founded and currently co-hosts the popular internet podcast Painkiller Already (PKA) alongside fellow YouTube personalities WoodysGamertag (co-founder) and MurkaDurkah (longtime recurring guest, official host as of July 2014). The podcast began its life on Podbean and iTunes but before long, shifted to the YouTube platform because of issues with hosting fees and upload times on the original sites. The show has featured two other YouTube personalities as hosts, co-founder WingsOfRedemption and late addition LeftyOX, who have since left the show in April and July 2014, respectively. Myers, along with WoodysGamerTag and WingsOfRedemtion, founded the podcast. Since the introduction of an external revenue source from the content crowd funding website Patreon, the show is once again being offered as an RSS feed on Podbean. Myers and his co-hosts also host a second, hour-long podcast named Painkiller Nearly (PKN), enabled by their funding through Patreon.

In May 2013, Myers launched a gaming channel on YouTube under the username "FPS".

On January 6, 2013, it was reported that Keith Ratliff, a member of the FPSRussia team, was found shot dead.[15][16] Since the shooting, several conspiracy theories have been stirred.[17] Ratliff was responsible for obtaining the firearms used in the videos.[18] The production of video was on hiatus until February 19, 2013.[19] In March 2013, it was announced by authorities that they are still investigating the death of Ratliff.[20]

On March 29, 2013, Myers' Georgia residence was searched by upwards of 40 members of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives alongside members of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The investigators also searched Myers's father's nearby farm, a frequent filming location for FPSRussia. ATF spokesman Richard Coes stated to the local press that the justification for the search was: "The claim is that [Myers] was using explosives and getting paid for it via YouTube."[21] Contradicting this was Franklin County Sheriff Stevie Thomas who stated that the raids were in connection with the investigation into the suspected murder of Keith Ratliff.[22] The ATF agents left empty handed without finding anything illegal, no arrests were made and no charges were filed.[23]